Molokai-Day 3 (Finally!)

Well, it only took me a year-and-a-half, but here it is.  You may recall that back in November, 2009, I took a promotional trip to Moloka'i, which was generously supported by Hotel Moloka'i, which provided us with free accommodations.  I told you about Day 1 of our trip (which was mostly getting settled into the island and its mellow vibe) and Day 2 (which included lots of activities and the cutest dog on the planet), and I have been promising to tell you about my favorite part, Day 3, ever since.  Luckily for you, since it has been so long, I don't remember a lot of details, so this will probably be more pictures and less words. (In fact, this is an extremely photo-heavy post.)

We got up early on Day 3 to meet up with Bill, our Nature Conservancy volunteer guide.  Bill would take us on some wild four-wheel-drive roads and into the beautiful Kamakou Preserve, which consists of over 2,700 acres of beautiful rain forest and something I had never even heard of before, a mountain bog.  The end of the hike brings you to a valley overlook that is breathtaking.  So, let's begin!

On the way up to the trail, we stopped by this pit in the ground.  It doesn't look like much, but it had some fascinating history behind it regarding the sandalwood trade.  Be sure to ask your guide about it.  

Another stop along the way provided us with a beautiful valley view and a sort of preview of what was awaiting us at the end of the trail.

Finally, we made it to the boardwalk that marks the trail through the preserve.  Wow!  This is much tinier than what I had in mind!  

See the metal grid tucked behind this cool plant?  Notice how it is almost the width of the foot that is standing cross-wise on it?  Yeah, tiny.  

We walked through a lot of rain forest and saw many cool plants, like these:

Luckily, the tiny boardwalk did open up in some spots, like when we finally reached the bog area, which was beautiful, but nothing like I thought it would be.  It was a spectacularly open view and not at all full of swamp monsters and bog mummies like I was expecting. 

(Hikers, not bog mummies)

Our guide, Bill (also not a bog mummy)

There were still some cool plants tucked in to these wide open spaces, like this ohia... 

and whatever this is:

Pretty soon, it was back into the rain forest.

Wow.

Jungle-y.

And Dr. Seuss-y.

Finally, we reached the end of the trail and we were blessed with a break in the clouds for a beautiful, sunny view of the many peaks and valleys surrounding us.  It's so hard to capture, but this was truly breath-taking.  

After a nice break for lunch, it was time to head back into the jungle and prepare to return home.

I'm in there somewhere!

After this experience, I can't say enough good things about The Nature Conservancy or our guide, Bill.  He was full of information about the history of Moloka'i, gave us tons of information about the plants that  we saw on our hike, and even gave us a reading list in case we wanted to follow-up on our education.  

Funding is being cut everywhere these days, and organizations like The Nature Conservancy are going to become more and more reliant on private donations.  Please consider supporting them in any way you can.  Even if you can't donate, you can volunteer or even visit one of their projects and spread the word about your experience.  I would love for everyone to be able to come to Hawai'i and experience the beauty here, but The Nature Conservancy is active in all 50 states and over 30 countries, so even if you can't come to Hawai'i, you can probably find something close to home that will give you a whole new appreciation for the place you live. 

"This is the Hawaii People Should See When They Come Here" part II

Welcome back!  If you missed part one of "This is the Hawaii People Should See When They Come Here" you're just going to have to scroll down to my previous post because I am writing all of these ahead of time, and as of the writing of this post, that post hasn't published yet, and I don't know how to set up a link to a post that hasn't published yet.  Sorry. As promised, though, here are some more sights from Waimea Valley.

On the way back down the trail from the waterfall, we passed a whole wall o' vines, covered in these cool flowers.

The perspective in this picture is misleading-my dad's hand is actually in the background, not being dwarfed by this jade vine!    

I can't even explain what an unusual color this is.  It's represented pretty accurately here, but to see it up against all the other greens surrounding it is surreal.  Before we discovered the vine in the tree, I had seen some petals on the ground, and I thought they were from somebody's lei, somebody's totally unrealistic, artificially-colored lei.

This still doesn't give you a really good idea of the colors, but I like the way it kind of looks like an upside-down peacock.  

See what I mean?  

Okay, the amount of time I just spent trying to decide which upside-down peacock looks the most like a jade vine and a palm frond indicates that it is time for me to go to bed.

Even if you love the sandy beaches and high-end shopping in Waikiki, I hope this has convinced you to carve out some time to visit Waimea Valley on your next visit to Oahu.  I can't guarantee you'll find a matching peacock-and-jade-vine set, but it's worth a shot!

Remember, I'm still traveling, but that doesn't mean I won't be super excited to read your comments when I get back!

"This is the Hawaii People Should See When They Come Here"

That's what my dad said after our visit to Waimea Valley on the north shore of Oahu, and he's right.  A lot of people who come to Hawaii never leave the hustle and bustle of Waikiki.  If they do, all they see is Pearl Harbor or an extremely commercialized luau.  Don't get me wrong, Waikiki can be fun, Pearl Harbor is certainly worthy of your time, and luaus can be...an experience; but exploring the 1,875 acres of lush vegetation at Waimea Valley is a great way to spend a day in Hawaii.

Today is normally Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but I am currently away from my garden (and my blog), so I'm going to cheat and put up pictures from our Waimea Valley visit instead.  I don't think we saw anywhere near the 5,000 documented species of tropical plants that the 150-acre Arboretum and Botanical Garden boasts, but we did see quite a lot!

One of the first things you notice as you start up the path is the great trees!  And look-a shrimp plant!

There's me next to one of the great trees.  See me?  I'm teeny tiny.

This is a Brownea macrophylla, featured in the Central and South American Flora section.

This is what it looks like after it blooms...and gets rained on.

This is a Heliconia rostrata, featured in the section by the Snack Bar and Restrooms.

Dad was silly enough to leave me in charge of his camera while he went to the bathroom.

Me and my sister, being great photo subjects, in front of some more heliconias

This is the end of the trail.  Time to turn around.  Anybody recognize this waterfall?  I know it's not quite as scenic without Kate and Sawyer in it, but I did the best I could.  Come back in a few days to see what we found on the way back down the trail!

(I am still away from my computer, so I probably won't be able to respond to comments right away, but I promise to be very excited when I do finally get around to reading them!)